Oil waste retainer for railroad journal boxes



Dec. 4, 1951 Filed Dec. 16, 1947 o. o. MERANDA 2,577,622

OIL WASTE RETAINER FOR RAILROAD JOURNAL BOXES 2 SHEETS-SHEET l A'TTQRNEY INVENTOR ORVILLE O. MERANDA Dec. 4, 1951 Q O MER N OIL WASTE RETAINER FOR RAILROAD JOURNAL BOXES Filed Dec. 16, 1947 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR Q ORVILLE O. MERANDA BY M v ATTOI'RNEY Patented Dec. 4, 1951 STATES PATENT OFFICE OIL WASTE RE TAINERZ FOR RAILROAD JOURNAL BOXES Orville 0. Meranda, Spokane, Wash.

Application December 16, 1947, serial No. 791,959

4 Claims. (01. 308-89) fectively hold the oiled waste in its original position in the bottom of the journal box, and'thus eliminate the well known cause of hot boxes, which has long been a constant problem inrailroad, rolling stock.

It is well known that on railroad rolling stock, hot boxes are not due to neglect to oil, because all railroads maintain-a, constant diligence over all of the journal boxes of every train that enters the yards at each division point of the railroad. Each train stops within the. yards at each division point and a crew of men, inspect every journal box, and whenever necessary, they repack the oiled waste in proper position in the bottom of the-journal box. This constantservicing assures that each time a train: leaves the yards, every journal boxhas properlubrication.

The real cause of. hot boxes isdue to the failure of the oiled waste to stay in the proper position when packed inthe bottom of the journal box. The rotation of the journal causes the oiled waste to gradually drift rearwardly of the direction of travel, and to climb upthat side of the journal box. Sometimes, this drifting causes a fragment of waste to get caught between the brass and the journal, with the result that the waste being tightly compressed againstthe journal, the oil will be wiped off that portion ofthe journal, leaving a dry ring with no lubrication at all. Rotation of the journal then develops considerable frictional heat, and in a very short time, the journal will become extremely hoty-in many instances, red hot, and White hot, and sometimes the journal is actually burned entirely off the wheel, thus causing wrecks with-consequent loss of life and considerable property damage. These hot boxes usually set the oiled Waste afire, but of course the amount of heat developed by the burning waste is minor indeed as compared to the frictional heat developed by rotation of the journal in direct contact with the brass which supports several thousand-pounds ofweight. Fragments of waste will also get caught between the brass and the journal, from various other causes, such. as abruptsetting of the brakes, orbumping one car into another, as is often the case. In winter weather, the-cold surfaces of the journal box and the journal. itself, condensemoisture out of. the atmosphere and it freezes in the journal box, so that-the oiled waste is frosted or frozen and consequently sticks tothe journal Rotation of the journal then lifts the oiled waste up and sometimes air-agment gets caught between the brass, and the journal. In anyevent, the hot box? is caused by frictional heat whenever a frag-ment of waste 2 becomes caught between the brass and the journal.

The difiiculties of hot boxes have always been a constant problem with railroads, and a very costly one. Various attempts have been made to solve the problem but the prior art has failed to provide an oiled waste retainer which will effectively solve the problem andwithstand the hard usageto which it is necessarily subjected.

The present invention is the result of years of experience andcareful investigation of the problem in actual-practice, and there is here provided, a strong durable oiled waste retainer which can be readily removed and replaced and which will remain in its intended position without becoming displaced or distorted in actual use.

A preferred example of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a journal box, showing the invention installed therein.

Fig. 2' is a perspective of the invention itself.

Fig. 3 is aplan view, showing the" journal box in section at the level of the line 3 of Fig. 1, with the wedge removed and the right end of the brass and journal box broken away to expose the journal.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section along the line 4--4 of Fig. l and shows the oiled waste supporting the present invention with its upper edges in contac'twith the brass and the underside of the shoulders of the journal box.

Fig. 5 is a small scale diagram of the invention in flat form, readyto be folded.

Fig. 6 shows each end of the invention bent in a mitre' fold and ready to be bent vertically to the position shown'in Fig. 2.

Attention is first directed to'thejournal upon which rests the babbitt'ed brass and its wedge within the journal box, these being the conventional parts with which the'present invention is associated.

The conventional journal box H is made as a casting, with a door or opening D full width of the outer end, and this opening is closed by a lid hinged to one or two lugs such as E; but in the drawings, this lid is omitted for convenience of illustration.

As best seen in Fig. 1, the journal J is inserted vthrough an opening-in the opposite end ofthe journal box which is provided with a wooden dust seal G. The'outer end of the journal J is provided with a collar C and at a spaced distance inwardly therefrom, is an annular shoulder K of thesame size as the collar 0' so that these two elements readily pass through the opening in the wooden dust seal G.

'A babbitted brass B seats upon the journal J whichis abouthalf: an inch longer than the brass so as to accommodate end play. 'As; shown-in FigeAj-the top of thisbrass B has slanting. sides, and-a wedge Wis saddled over this brass; As

shown in Fig. 1, the top of the wedge W has a longitudinal crown which contacts the inside of the journal box so as to accommodate a certain amount of rocking movement.

As shown in Fig. 1, the inner end of the brass B is provided with an upright flange Z which contacts the wedge so as to limit the inward movement thereof. This wedge is of such length that it has an outward movement of about half an inch before contacting stop lugs such as X which are usually situated at the two upper corners of the journal box so as to act as reinforcements.

In Fig. 3 the wedge is removed so as to disclose a plan view of the brass B, the two opposite side edges of which each have a lug such as L extending at right angles therefrom, and these lugs LL abut the outer edges of vertical shoulders such as S--S cast on the inside of the side walls of the journal box and extending downwardly from the top thereof to the level of the lower edge of the brass B. Thus these lugs LL contacting the shoulders s-s serve as stop members limiting the inward movement of the brass B.

As seen in Fig. 3 the brass B has considerable clearance between the two shoulders S--S and as shown in Fig. 4, the wedge W has similar clearance. This is not only for convenience of assembly but also to accommodate movement of the parts without binding.

From this description, it will be readily understood from an inspection of Fig. 3 that the journal 'J is free to move inwardly to the right until it takes up the aforesaid half inch clearance bemove outwardly to the left of the position shown in Fig. 1, and carry the brass B and the wedge W along with it, an amount equal to the aforesaid half inch clearance between the wedge W and the outer lugs X. Thus the journal has an inch of end movement, as is conventional practice on railroad rolling stock.

All of the foregoing structure is conventional practice and is described only to show the environment with which the present invention is associated. It should also be mentioned that it is conventional practice for the bottom U of the outer opening or door D of the journal box to be about an inch and a half below the center of the journal J and it is the usual practice to pack the journal box with oiled waste to the height of the bottom of the door opening, so that the oiled waste is in contact with an adequate portion of the underside of the journal.

Attention is now directed to the invention itself, which is an oiled waste retainer R comprising a pair of upright plates such as 2-2 laterally spaced apart and connected together by a downwardly offset web 3 having upwardly projecting flanges such as 4 and 5 disposed along its inner and outer edges and spaced apart an amount equal to about three times the width of the aforesaid collar C so as to saddle under the same and accommodate the aforesaid end movements of the journal J without imparting end movement to the oiled waste retainer R of the present invention.

The downwardly offet web 3 may have either curved or else angular bends where it turns up to the upright plates 22 which should be spaced apart just far enough to provide suitable clearance for the collar C as is illustrated in Fig. 4,

so that these upright plates will be disposed as near to the journal as practical.

Preferably, these retainer plates 22 have teeth 6 on their lower edges, and as the oiled waste has a tendency to gradually move outward, the bite of these teeth should be towards the free ends of the retainer plates so as to oppose any outward movement of the oiled waste, and furthermore, this illustrated inclination of the teeth adds to the convenience of removing the invention, as it avoids dragging the oiled waste outwardly with the device.

For convenience of inserting the device into the journal box and under the lugs LL of the brass B the upper edge of the rear end of each retainer plate 2 is cut away as.- indicated at 1-1. A tongue such as 8 is struck out from the upper edge of each of the retainer plates so as to widen the contact of each plate against the under side of the corresponding shoulder S of the journal box, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. This widened contact is to preclude the top edge of one of the retainer plates from becoming caught in the vertical gap between the brass B and the adjacent shoulder S, when abrupt bumping, may perhaps shift the brass against one shoulder and away from the other, thus leaving a maximum clearance on one side and perhaps temporarily dislocating the retainer plates so that the edge of one of them might accidentally be forced into the enlarged gap so as to become caught, were it not for this widened contact which effectually prevents any such mishap.

These tongues 3-8 are a safety measure intended to meet extreme conditions which may be encountered in actual practice, such as bumping of cars, abrupt setting of brakes, etc. The illus trated tongues are a convenient and practical means for accomplishing this purpose but any other suilable elements may be employed for broadening the contact of the upper edge of the retaining plates where they contact the under side of the shoulders S-S.

Preferably the outer top corner of each retaining plate is clipped off as indicated at 9-9 as this facilitates removal of the device when the brass B is in its farthest outward position.

As previously mentioned, it is the general practice to pack the journal box with oiled waste to the level of the bottom edge U of the door or opening D. For the sake of clarity, the oiled waste is not shown in Fig. 1 as that would obscure essential parts of the disclosure, but it will be understood that the journal box is packed with oiled wastein the conventional manner, before the present invention is inserted. This packing and handling of the oiled waste is done with the hook, and packing bar or spoon commonly used by workmen for this purpose.

After the oiled waste is packed in proper position, the waste retainer R of the present invention is then inserted into the journal box and the workman uses the packing bar or spoon to press the oiled waste down as the waste retainer R is urged into place. As soon as the cross-web 3 clears the bottom U of the door, the device can be pushed down to level position and then pushed farther back while compressing the waste with the packing bar or spoon. When the inner flange 4 contacts the collar C, it is a simple matter to press the cross-web 3 down and move the device further back until the collar C is positioned between the two flanges 5 and 5, whereupon the oiled waste being under compression by the retainer Rof the present invention, will lift the same up against the under side of the journal box shoulders 3-8 and in contact with the lugs L-L on the brass, as shown in Fig. 4, where the oiled waste is shown at M. s

From this description it will be understood that the entire length of the device of the present invention is in firm contact with the oiled waste and will effectively hold the waste in its intended position in the bottom of the journal box and thus preclude fragments of waste from becoming caught between the brass and the journal.

The flanges 45 are spaced just far enough apart to accommodate the required end play of the collar C and they serve as stop members to maintain the device in proper position relative to the journal J. Due to the fact that the oiled waste has a tendency to gradually creep outward, it is not likely that the device of the present invention would ever creep inwardly, for which reason the outer flange 5 could be omitted if the workmen would always install the device by positioning the inner flange 4 in contact with the inside of the collarC so that in actual operation the end play of the collar would establish the proper location of the device. The purpose of the outer flange 5 is to preclude installing the device too far inward when the collar C is at its farthest inward position, because in that inadvertent position the cross-web 3 would not be located so as to correspond with the range of movement of the required end play of the collar C. Thus the outer flange employed as a safety precaution against improper installing, and it is possible to omit that outer flange and make the cross-web 3 that much narrower.

When the journal box requires repacking, the device of the present invention can readily be removed by inserting the hook of the workmens packing bar into the hole In provided for that purpose, whereupon the device can be pushed down so that the flange 4 will pass under the collar Cand then the device is pulled outwardly and raised upwardly until the web 3 clears the bottom U of the door opening, after which the device can be removed with ease. If necessary, the removal can be facilitated by pressing the Waste downwardgwith the packing bar or spoon commonly used in repacking the journal box. After the old waste is replaced with a fresh supply containing the proper amount of oil, the waste retainer R of the present invention is againinstalled in the metal to the required shape as shown in Fig. 5

and bending the flanges 4-5 and tongues 8-8 to their required positions; the piece is then; in readiness to be bent along the two dotted lines |l-l I to form mitre folds as shown at l2|2 in Fig. 6. after which the cross-web 3 can be suitably bent to bring the retainer plates 2-2 up to vertical position to produce the device shown in Fig. 2. These later bends on the cross-web may be either curved or angular, as that is not important to the present invention, but preferably they are made in the direction which disposes the retaining plates 22 on the inside of the upper portions of the cross-web 3, because that enables vides a simple construction which is strong and durable and will effectively hold the oiled waste in proper position in the bottom of the journal box, thereby eliminating the need for constant servicing at each division point of the railroad,

and thus saving considerable time, as well as eliminating much labor and expense.

The invention can readily be installed in the conventional journal box without making any transformations whatever. Of course it will be understood that the invention is to be made in difierent sizes to accommodate the various sizes of journals in commonuse.

I claim as my invention:

1. An oiled waste retainer for railroad journal boxes, comprising a pair of upright plates laterally spaced apart and connected together by a downwardly offset web having an upright flange on its inner edge and an upright flange on its outer edge, said plates having teeth on their lower edges, the upper edge of each of said plates having a tongue extending laterally therefrom, the top of the free end of each of said plates being even with the underside of the tongue thereon, and each of said plates having its outer top corner slanting downward from the top edge of the plate.

2. An oiled waste retainer for railroad journal boxes, comprising a pair of upright plates laterally spaced apart and connected together by a downwardly offset web having an upright flange on its inner edge, said plates having teeth on their lower edges, the upper edge of each of said plates having a vertical tongue extending laterally therefrom, and the top of the free end of each of said plates being even with the underside of the tongue thereon.

3. An oiled waste retainer for railroad journal boxes having horizontal shoulders on the underside of internal projections on the side walls thereof, comprisin a pairof upright plates laterally spaced apart and connected together by a downwardly ofiset web having an upright flange on its inner edge the upper edge of each of said plates having a vertical tongue extending laterally therefrom for edge contact with the underside of the shoulder on' that respective side of the journal box so as to preclude the retainer from rising in the journal box, and the top of the free end of each of said'plates being even with the underside of the tongue thereon.

4. An oiled waste retainer for railroad journal boxes, comprising a pair of upright plates laterally spaced apart and connected together by a downwardly ofi'set web integral therewith, one end of each of said plates merging into said web' by a mitre bend, and the upper portions of said web lying flat against the respective plates said mitre bend being of less height than the upright plates, to thereby provide increased clearance for the collar of the journal.

ORVILLE o. MERANDA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 922,249 Billingham May 18, 1909 1,582,251 Deatley Apr. 2'7, 1926 1,675,751 Dyer July 3, 1928 

